Veteran imbibers know that smart people tend to make the best bartenders. But Stuart Jensen of Green Russell in LoDo really uses his melon.

Jensen recently won ShakeStir’s Denver Flash Cocktail Competition using the fruit that put Rocky Ford on the map. Specifically, cantaloupe.

“I wanted to make a drink that has some summer flavors and highlights produce that we can get in Colorado,” Jensen said.

That he did.

ShakeStir is a national network for the bartender community. They mount “flash competitions,” in which barkeeps get 24 hours to create their best cocktails. The drinks are judged by a panel of peers.

Jensen submitted a Melon Farmer, anchored by G’Vine Floraison gin and muddled cantaloupe. It won. His victory won’t send him into retirement in Fiji, but he does get bragging rights. To make your own, check out the Melon Farmer recipe on the Colorado Table blog.

William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp

Restaurant critic William Porter is a feature writer at The Denver Post, where he covers food, culture and people. He joined the news outlet in 1997. Before that, he spent 14 years covering politics and popular culture at The Phoenix Gazette and Arizona Republic. He is a native of North Carolina.

Spain came under repeated attack starting Thursday in what authorities called linked terrorist incidents, when a driver swerved a van into crowds in Barcelona’s historic Las Ramblas district, killing more than a dozen people and injuring scores of others. Early Friday, an attempted attack unfolded in a town down the coast

If there’s one superhero character whose rise might be most tied to the events of World War II, it is Captain America, who emerged from the minds of legends Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and sprung forth from an iconic 1941 debut cover on which Cap smacks Hitler right in the kisser.

A customer dining at Washington’s Oceanaire restaurant noticed an unusual line at the bottom of his receipt: “Due to the rising costs of doing business in this location, including costs associated with higher minimum wage rates, a 3% surcharge has been added to your total bill.”